A
well-attended second meeting of the Save Highbridge Library Campaign
was held at the Morland Community Hall this week where further plans
to fight the potential closure were discussed.

Present
were members of all three main political parties, plus local councillors,
trade unionists and Highbridge and Burnham-On-Sea residents keen
to support the library.

A new
canpaign banner has been designed and printed, as pictured below,
and will be used when the campaign will support an anti-cuts lobby
outside the full Somerset County Council budget meeting on Wednesday
21st February at 9.30am outside County Hall in Taunton.

A wide
range of campaign activities was discussed and is being planned
for the next few weeks through the County Council's consultation
period.

These
include a public petition calling for the library to remain open
with at least its current hours and the retention of trained library
staff.

The
campaign is also considering a door-to-door survey to capture evidence
of a local community desire for improved use of the library should
extra library facilities and opening hours be made available.

A Save
Highbridge Library stall is also be planned for local supermarkets
in Highbridge and Burnham-On-Sea, and also in Market Street and
other venues, when more information will be offered and a chance
to sign the petition.

Various
fundraising activities are also being planned to support the campaign.

Moorland
Community Hall were warmly thanked for hosting the group's meetings
and will be hosting weekly meetings on Thursdays at 7.30pm when
all are welcome.

The
Taunton Area Activists' Committee of Unite the union has agreed
a donation of £100 to pay for the new banner displaying the
'Save Highbridge Library' campaign message.

The
banner was designed by Highbridge-based Unite Community Branch member
James Cameron, commissioned by Unite Community Regional Officer
Brett Sparkes, and paid for by the donation.

Unite
full-time officers Heathcliffe Pettifer and Dorothy Fogg were agreed
on the significance of the donation, saying: "With delegates
from some of Somerset's largest workplaces, as well as our Unite
Community Branch, our activists have showed their commitment to
supporting worthwhile community causes, and long may this continue,
a wholly positive aspect of today's trades unionism that may surprise
some but which in fact has been a part of our culture for decades."